Product Description

The monastery has often been likened to a powerhouse of prayer, providing light and energy for the countless numbers who make up the Body of Christ. This image has inadvertently furthered the view of monasticism as separate from the rest of the Church, apart from the concerns of "the world." In Lovers of the Place, Abbot Kline provided a fresh vision of the monastic life as one form of the Christian vocation which now must struggle to find its place alongside other expressions of Christian life, for he firmly believes that as monasticism renews itself for the Church, it will in turn renew the Church.

Abbot Kline shows that monasticism can renew itself in its very essence by giving of itself for the sake of the Church. In looking to the baptized, who discern in the monastic way their own journey, monastics can find new energies for the journey ahead. Having had their own treasury blessedly looted by the baptized, the monastics find themselves loose in a world which has become more and more their place and their home. By exploring this theme of monasticism in the Church and the Church in monasticism, readers will find answers to such questions as How do we belong to the Church? and What can we give to the Church in a more obvious way?

Lovers of the Place weaves together allegory, narrative, and poetic intuition, gathering images and insights around an experience of conversion to the monastic way of humility. Through his insight and experience, Abbot Kline invites all the baptized to a participation in the monastic charism now loose in the Church at large.

Publisher's Description

The monastery has often been likened to a powerhouse of prayer, providing light and energy for the countless numbers who make up the Body of Christ. This image has inadvertently furthered the view of monasticism as separate from the rest of the Church, apart from the concerns of "the world." In Lovers of the Place, Abbot Kline provided a fresh vision of the monastic life as one form of the Christian vocation which now must struggle to find its place alongside other expressions of Christian life, for he firmly believes that as monasticism renews itself for the Church, it will in turn renew the Church. Abbot Kline shows that monasticism can renew itself in its very essence by giving of itself for the sake of the Church. In looking to the baptized, who discern in the monastic way their own journey, monastics can find new energies for the journey ahead. Having had their own treasury blessedly looted by the baptized, the monastics find themselves loose in a world which has become more and more their place and their home. By exploring this theme of monasticism in the Church and the Church in monasticism, readers will find answers to such questions as How do we belong to the Church? and What can we give to the Church in a more obvious way? Lovers of the Place weaves together allegory, narrative, and poetic intuition, gathering images and insights around an experience of conversion to the monastic way of humility. Through his insight and experience, Abbot Kline invites all the baptized to a participation in the monastic charism now loose in the Church at large.

Author Bio

Fr. Francis Kline, OCSO, left behind a promising career in classical music to enter monastic life at the age of 24. He had studied at the Julliard School and already attracted wide notice through a series of prominent organ recitals in New York City and Philadephia. He entered the Abbey of Gethsemani in Trappist, Kentucky, in 1972, where he lived until his election as Abbot of Mepkin Abbey in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, in 1990. He served in this capacity until his death in 2006.

Since completing his doctorate under the direction of David Power in 1982, Michael Downey has served as professor of theology and spirituality at universities and seminaries in the United States. His abiding theological commitment to those who are wounded and marginalized has brought him to serve the church most in need through lectures, conferences, and retreats in different parts of the world. From 1997-2011 he served as the Cardinal's Theologian, Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He is currently Diocesan Theologian in San Bernardino, CA.

About the Author

Fr. Francis Kline, OCSO, left behind a promising career in classical music to enter monastic life at the age of 24. He had studied at the Julliard School and already attracted wide notice through a series of prominent organ recitals in New York City and Philadephia. He entered the Abbey of Gethsemani in Trappist, Kentucky, in 1972, where he lived until his election as Abbot of Mepkin Abbey in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, in 1990. He served in this capacity until his death in 2006.

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